Creación vector de pesos de los criterios

Findings to identify the demotivators from the re-interrogation of the qualitative data collected for the MA study during the first phase of this investigation had been clustered into three factors pertaining to the students, teacher autonomy and the institution. Fifteen areas were investigated for the second phase and addressed issues pertaining to: students’ motivation, ability, behaviour, achievement and attendance; teacher autonomy in terms of learning resources, teaching styles, the syllabus, assessment procedures and

administration workload; and conditions in the colleges including class sizes, facilities, the general climate, opportunities for feedback and career

advancement. Findings revealed that there were four demotivators, which were common to most NQTs working in the sector during 2000-2004. The majority felt that most of their teaching time was spent motivating students to engage with learning; they thought that the administrative demands/duties were excessive and unreasonable; they were concerned by students’ levels of basic skills for their course of study; and did not feel that their work linked to a clear career path (see Appendices 8.3 & 8.4).

There were, however, other demotivators, which were dependent on employment status (whether NQTs worked part-time, full-time etc); the age and sex of the NQTs; the type of subject taught (vocational training/basic and key skills or an academic subject) and whether they intended to remain in teaching in five years’ time3

. The corresponding contingency tables can be

3

found in the appendices; their whereabouts are indicated in the text. In addition, a table, summarising these particular findings, is attached as Appendix 10.

The following discussion integrates the findings from the analysis of the both the qualitative and quantitative results. In addition, other potential

demotivators, which did not emerge during the first phase of the investigation and consequently, were not measured in the survey, are outlined.

Respondents to the survey, who were not intending to stay in teaching, rated the institution the most negatively out of the three factors (see Appendix 8.2) and there were many accounts relating to the conditions in the colleges:

When I began, I was very much thrown in at the deep end. The

department was undergoing a third audit with the risk of closure. I was not informed of this at interview. We got through the audit. Other members are on long-term sick on and off, and this is not sufficiently covered. I, in turn, take on more duties and responsibilities than my L1 post affords. I am still at the bottom of the pay scale for L1. We are currently without a CM or CL so myself (L1), a L2 and two part-time ‘fractionals’ cover everything. I am at present looking for other work. I am a good teacher and get grade 2/3 for inspections but the job is too demanding and I have a family to consider, (Y036).

I was thoroughly put off by my experience of teaching in a FE college by the working atmosphere and conditions. Everyone was over- worked and consequently very stressed and negative, even at normal working times. Once exams and an OFSTED inspection arrived, the stress levels and workload went through the roof. With 26 contact hours a week, you don’t have time to be creative in your teaching. Our French counterparts only teach 18 hours a week so in the UK we do the equivalent of an extra day. It’s madness and badly paid madness at that. I would never go back into teaching as a career, (Gn260).

Throughout the qualitative comments, there was a real sense of the pressures put onto institutions, and thus by default on the teaching staff, from the

government’s initiatives and accountability measures:

I specialised in ESOL, which is undergoing great changes constantly. The government’s steps are unrealistic, the curriculum unhelpful and the expectation of teachers to retrain without appropriate remuneration for training for an extra qualification unreasonable, (W038).

Over the last two and a half years my college has had two mock

inspections and one real one. Even though the college got a two in the real inspection, the college is having a mock one this year. Tutors are under constant pressure, (Y205).

The pressure on colleges to grow, increase student numbers and find ways to maximise student income (McDonald and Lucas, 2001) were also evident, yet some participants seemed resigned to this:

At present, class sizes are too large and administration work is excessive. My colleagues are supportive and there is an appraisal system in place which works well. I do enjoy teaching but feel tired, worn down and a little disillusioned with the workload involved. In college at present, it is very short staffed and this seems to put everyone under pressure. Students come a definite second to administration during times like this, (Y147).

I have developed a cynical attitude, which I expected to happen, just not this quickly. My aim is to accept these mini-frustrations as part and parcel of this vocation, (C012).

Although some NQTs commented that class size was an issue, the

quantitative findings were contrary to findings in the study by McDonald and Lucas (2001). Rather than finding that class sizes were too big or small for managing effective learning – thus putting strain on health and safety issues and syllabus coverage – participants in my study were generally positive, and teachers of vocational and basic skills were even more positive. My finding might be due to the heavy concentration of NQTs teaching basic skills in the sample as the Skills for Life initiative enabled substantial growth in this area. Increased levels of funding, not only enabled new teaching appointments and teaching materials but also class expansion.

Although a clear career path did not emerge as a demotivator during the first phase of this investigation, but was added in light of the literature, this was clearly a demotivator for participants who were not currently teaching,

teaching on hourly-paid or sessional contracts (see Appendix 9.3). For these participants, the reason for this appeared to be based on the difficulty in obtaining a more substantial contract:

The college that I work for has been very stubborn and slow in offering a fractional post even though I run the first year of a diploma course and deliver AS level and all three key skills myself. To be a jack of all trades is key to sustaining a place on a course team, (Pp098).

My experience of teaching in this sector is the difficulty of moving from being employed on an hourly basis to having a fractional or full-time contract. This is despite having worked in the same institution for over two years. I believe this is to be the most common obstacle to career advancement in the post-compulsory sector, (Pp099).

As a sessional teacher, I have found very little support from colleges and feel that sessional staff are viewed as cheap labour when the college cannot afford full-time staff. Career progression is very limited and is down to the individual, (W105).

These accounts tend to support the findings of McKelvey and Andrews (1998), with regards to the lack of job security, and those of Shain and Gleeson (1999) who reported that the dismantling of the ‘Silver Book’ agreement in 1993, had enabled colleges to make economies around staffing issues including pay and contracts. This casualization of the sector in 1995-6 reported by Hillier (2006) was still very much in evidence and for NQTs aged 35 and above, it was a particular problem (sees Appendix 9.5). Findings also indicated that NQTs, who did not intend to remain in teaching in five years’ time and those who were unsure, did not feel that their work lead to future career advancement (see Appendix 9.1). This suggests that the extrinsic rewards achieved through career advancement are just as important as intrinsic rewards to sustain motivation since participants felt that the ‘contingent path’ identified by

Raynor (1974, in Dörnyei, 2001) to enhance achievement-related motivation, was lacking:

The college makes sure that it employs a few full-timers, keeping the rest of us on annualised hours – a concept I had not encountered until FE. None of us feel valued. Management is aggressive and partisan. Previous experience in work makes me wonder how the college manages to get away with it. Hourly pay is reasonable but the cap on number of hours worked makes it impossible to earn a living. Less than 17K a year for a qualified teacher is laughable, (Gn003).

This comment would supports the claims of Young et al (1995) and McDonald and Lucas (2001) that colleges increasingly rely on part-time teachers to reduce staffing costs in an effort to grow and maximise income.

Another demotivator pertaining to the institution factor was the climate within institutions. Results indicated that NQTs, who intended to leave, and those, who were not currently teaching, did not feel that their colleges were

supportive. The qualitative comments suggested that this was mainly due to the conflict between managers and teachers, replicating the findings of Elliot (1996), McKelvey and Andrews (1998) and Wallace (2002). Not only did participants feel that managers were unsupportive but they lacked sufficient understanding of the NQTs’ work:

Support from other people I work with is a big factor – not very much support at managerial level. I feel they are out of touch with ground level issues especially as they do little teaching and have a policy of the more ‘bums on seats’ the better financially. The college sector is de-motivating due to the lack of financial rewards for work; we are paid a lot less than school teachers, (Y212).

The reason why so many staff leave my college is due to poor, or even, malicious management treatment. Staff turnover was 23% last year! (G278).

FE expected me to cope instantly as a course leader. Colleagues were supportive; management were clueless about the ‘shop floor’, (Y168).

On the surface my work environment is perfect but the

leadership/communication skills of the management are a problem. Morale is very low and there seems to be no concept of motivating or encouraging staff, (B234).

The last comment illustrates the constraints of relying on closed quantitative methods as the college environment can be interpreted in a number of ways which include support and good relationships with colleagues in addition to management support and leadership. Qualitative findings suggested that NQTs, on full-time contracts, were positive about their relationships with colleagues, but this was not always the case with those on part-time or sessional contracts:

As a sessional worker I often feel isolated. I haven’t been notified of team meetings. I cannot access the college intranet and people forget to include me sometimes when memos are circulated, (B236).

I find that teaching adults creates a very isolated existence with non- contact with other fellow tutors due to classes often scheduled for evenings [sic], (Gn56).

Diversity of contact among tutors was reported by Coffield et al, (2007) and the narratives above were definitely on the end of the continuum towards isolation. In terms of motivation the environmental dimension is central to the process of internalization and the functions of relatedness and competence (Deci & Ryan, 1975, 1985). As Deci and Ryan argue, people need to feel a sense of belonging to a group with a similar goal. Therefore, although the sessional teachers had the same objective – teaching the college students – isolation from their colleagues and not feeling part of a team could eventually affect their internal motivation.

Fulfilment of the need to feel competent was often challenged through lack of mentor support, an issue also highlighted by Avis & Bathmaker (2006).

Indeed, there was evidence of ‘hands-off’ mentoring described by Butcher (2003):

I have been teaching for eight weeks… I feel that no-one tells me I’m doing a good (or bad) job. I have little senior management support, and no guidance, (C230).

At present I have been teaching since September [2 months] and feel that I have been left to fend for myself. Therefore I feel very lonely with regards to my performance and teaching style. However, I’m sure that this will develop in the future, when hopefully support will be given, (Gn249).

I felt enormous pressure during the first year. There was very little support – I met my mentor two times! I was asked to cover an AS economics – not a subject I am qualified in – I had one course book and no resource material. By the end of the year I had produced lesson plans, overheads, exercises, games, CD Rom support, back-up materials etc. for the whole course and left the materials for the next incumbent! This is an unreal level of work imposed on teaching-staff – especially part-time or temporary staff – with little or no management support just expectancy that the work will be completed! I felt too much emphasis was placed upon cost cutting, image and accountancy and not enough on the quality of the students’ education, (Gn043). In a year of teaching (paid work) I have received no formal feedback from any member of the management team. My only observed sessions were those that were part of my PGCE practice, (B236).

The need to feel competent can be enhanced by positive feedback, as long as it is informational rather than controlling or amotivating. However, since these participants have received very little, if any feedback, this constitutes to a poor hygiene factor (Herzberg, 1959) and the absence of the recognition motivator (Herzberg, 1959), which can undermine an individual’s perceived competence, as in the case of this participant:

I was a very good teacher and am only able to express this because I was told how fantastic I was by staff and students upon deciding to leave. If I was told this during my time teaching I may not have decided to leave. On reflection I thoroughly enjoyed my short-lived teaching career (3 years). The stress and marking were often too much at times and I often thought that my not coping was due to the fact that I wasn’t a good teacher. I had little support from my already over-worked line managers who did their best. I truly feel that if I had

a mentor and was encouraged and told how good I was from time to time, particularly when embarking on my teaching career, I would still be doing a great job of inspiring young people to learn, (Y013).

Ironically, one participant’s perceived level of competence was enhanced by feedback from a source which would normally be viewed by Deci and Ryan (1985) as a controlling event:

I still feel a little unsure of the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of classroom management especially with the younger disillusioned students receiving EMA. However, having had very positive feedback from a senior OFSTED inspector, I do feel confident and am pleased with my progress, (W285).

However, the above event appeared to be an exception:

Failing an OFSTED inspection has had a very negative effect on my teaching experiences. Far too much of my time is spent on activities to please OFSTED next time, while I feel I still need to devote all my efforts to the core task of developing a scheme of work which matches my style and my students’ abilities, (P024).

Lack of support from managers or mentors appeared to be a common theme. One participant was driven to create her own support network:

Some positive and some negative experiences but on the whole I feel completely unsupported as a newly qualified teacher and have found I have had to generate a support network within the college for

colleagues with similar experiences as myself, (W152).

Given that the majority of the participants came from a background in business (section 4.3.8), there was evidence of a culture shock. By comparison the private sector appeared much more supportive and less bureaucratic:

The main area of concern for me is the lack of support for newly appointed teachers. I have felt totally unsupported in every direction from personnel, finance, resources, everything. I find the whole

teaching profession unprofessional in the approach of support… I have come from a very supportive background in industry where training is vital for support, motivation and staff morale, (Gn263).

Teaching has been a challenge, particularly due to the massive cultural change moving from a commercial business into education. I still find the length of time for decisions to be made frustrating. Therefore I tend to be a bit of a maverick and challenge the norms. This is not always appreciated by my colleagues but I see my key objective as enabling my students to learn and be able to better themselves through a challenging career path, (Gn011).

Another demotivator which surfaced from analysis of the qualitative data and would pertain to the institution factor was the lack of activities for continued professional development:

Problems with uncertainties about funding make planning new courses difficult. Lack of funding also means resources are very limited and there is no money for professional development, (Gn057).

I am enjoying teaching English in a FE college (on the whole). We do not get much CPD that directly enhances the teaching of English. This is frustrating. I have therefore started a MA in the Teaching of

English…but I have to fund this myself, (G068).

I am concerned by the lack of security as a sessional worker and the lack of professional development and further training, (Gn54).

Given that one of the main intrinsic components for entering teaching is the rewards gained from continuous engagement with their subject and the potential for lifelong learning (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997 in Dörnyei, 2001; Mckelvey & Andrews, 1998; Matthews, 2003), this lack is a serious challenge for continued motivation. The participant’s account of having to fund her development did not come as a surprise and supports the findings of Harwood and Harwood (2004), who reported that teachers in the sector often had to fund their own higher degree courses and undertake them in their own time.

Overall participants were more positive about statements pertaining to the autonomy factor, which investigated teaching practice in terms of autonomy over the syllabus, in producing resources and in delivery to accommodate various learning styles (see Appendices 8.2 & 8.4). The vast majority of

participants were positive about having freedom to produce their own teaching resources and materials. However, this ‘freedom’ was seen as a double- edged sword since this task was often undertaken in NQTs’ own time and therefore not accounted for in their pay. Although this was raised by

participants on sessional contacts, it was also a problem highlighted by those on full-time contracts:

Teaching is very rewarding and stimulating but the time required to produce material is not sufficient to allow for the development of new ideas or methods. Consequently I find the hours very long, (Gn286). I feel the college does not allow enough time for preparation and consequently much of this work is done at home in evenings and weekends – time when I should be relaxing and resting. It is better this year but not because I now have resources in place, but because I have pulled back on my input to less contact time. I feel a bit guilty about this but I felt it necessary for my health’s sake, (Gn055). I’m learning the subject as I go along, which coupled [with] a MA in historical research is proving time consumptive. The exercises and resources are much more difficult to produce. I know I need to spend more time on them and hope to combine the Christmas recess with creating more imaginative tasks and learning/teaching aids, (W289).

These comments support the findings of Coffield et al (2007) with regards to